Usually, a biopic tells the sunny, happy side of the celebrity. Here Stephen is shown like the Maine hicks he described (the cap, the van) and also as having all the problems one can encounter all along his life: single family, school tension, poverty, mental breakdowns, drugs dependencies and illness
What's even more exciting is that it's Stephen himself who tells us that and even takes us to his places in rural Maine
So it's really original and moving to see that the most famous American (horror) writer had such a hard life: sure we have read about it but to see the real thing is totally different! If his last novels are really downhill, repetitive and yes bad, his early career was fantastic and maybe it was all this suffering that made his books amazing. Now he seems more in peace materially and spiritually so he loses his inspiration! Another good thing in this documentary is that he speaks clearly about his values (american culture embarrassing violence, the hometown passion) and they are something I can connect easily
. So it's really a must-see documentary about the master but also an amazing tale about becoming a modern famous writer
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Review of Stephen King: Shining in the Dark
